Carlos's Almostopster: Cold Chisel -East

Of course it has to be an Aussie band

Cold Chisel - East

Like many of us, I’ve gone for a nostalgic pick. Here in Australia, Cold Chisel holds a place beyond merely being a popular band; cultural icons would be more accurate. They have at least two songs that could arguably be considered national treasures. If put to a referendum, I’d bet we could replace our boring-as-bat-shit national anthem with their song “Flame Trees”.

While “East” doesn’t feature any of those iconic national treasure songs, it’s my favourite of theirs and it’d be pretty uncontroversial to call it their best. Though probably controversial (verging on blasphemous) is my reason for picking them for the almostopster. They never made an album that befit their position as cultural icons. If I were to recommend one Chisel album, it would probably be the excellent compilation “Radio Songs”.

A bit of background: Chisel are THE classic Aus pub rock band. Unlike their understudies such as Midnight Oil, The Divinyls, or INXS, they could never, no matter how hard they tried, get success outside Australia. They also achieved the rare feat of being as equally lampooned in mainstream media as they were scorned in hip music circles none of which made a difference to the public who unreservedly loved them. Chisel had something that I believe could best be described as authenticity, which elevated them above the critical snobbery and cultural elitism that would’ve buried most artists in their place.

I first discovered Chisel when I was young and just getting into music. I’d heard the song “Cheap Wine” on the radio and not long after found a second-hand 7” at an op-shop. For 20 cents, I believe it was the first single I ever bought; it may even have been one of the first times I consciously went looking for cheap records. I ended up wearing that single out; there was something so magical about the song. It seemed to offer me a window into a parallel world or a different life that normal songs on the radio didn’t. Frustratingly, the song alludes to an interesting backstory that it never reveals: a friend crucified on a needle, drinking rocket fuel on the beach, what even is rocket fuel… I asked my parents what rocket fuel was, and what happens if you drink it? They had no answers and told me not to be an idiot. Eventually, I had to get the album and find out more. I have to admit I loved everything about it. From its fantastic cover (a very cool reimaging of “The Death of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David) and impassioned songs telling tales of riots, prisons, and outsiders.

Many years later, I still love this album. I get a great nostalgia hit from it, but there’s a lot to love about it aside from nostalgia. Its clear airy tone, the interplay between guitarist Ian Moss’s bright lyrical playing and Don Walker’s bar-room piano is so great. The rhythm section is about as perfect as it can be, and Jimmy Barnes' vocal performance is as singular as it is outstanding. “Choir Girl,” “Cheap Wine,” and “Four Walls” are incredibly memorable, thoughtful and perfectly rendered songs. “Ita” is also a favourite, a cheeky / catchy love song about a ne’er-do-well character fantasizing about Ita Buttrose, a morally upright women’s magazine and TV personality here in Aus.

Though there is still the ‘almost’ to discuss … The gap between the best and the rest on “East” is just too far. Chisel were a rare band in that they could boast all 5 members being strong writers with all band members delivering No1 hits over their career. East their third and the first album where this dynamic started to play out. Up to East, Don Walker had been the primary songwriter and his interest in outsiders, runaways, and life on the wrong side of the law in an Australian context was a thread that ran through his songs and thematically underpinned the albums. So, with East, the introduction of the ‘everyone gets a go’ with the song writing… I believe, compromised the success of the album… as an album.

Commercially, it worked. Bass player Phil Small’s superb trad love pop song “My Baby” was a huge hit. But while it was all over the radio charts like a rash, in the context of the album, for me it sticks out like dog balls. Jimmy Barnes contributed his first 2 songs to the band, “Rising Sun” and “My Turn to Cry,” which sad to say are just bad. “Rising Sun,”, is only saved from being absolute drek by Jimmy’s charisma being cranked up to 11. He went on to contribute superb songs for the band on subsequent albums but on East, his contributions should’ve been left as B-sides.

For me, this album is an interesting case where a band’s great strength, i.e., having 5 strong writers, sabotaged what could’ve been Don Walker and Chisel’s finest album.

8/10

Some additional fun notes:

• Most musicians in Australia, at some point while performing, have had someone yell out “PLAY SOME CHISEL”; it’s our equivalent of people yelling out SLAYER at concerts.

• They started out as a proto-metal band. I often wonder what would’ve happened to Australian music if they’d stayed metal, we may have ended up with more of a metal scene. Barnes would’ve been a superb metal vocalist; I can only imagine if he had a band like Maiden behind him.